Editor’s note: I originally wrote this in 1998. Obviously, some of the facts here are out of date.

When Hall-of-Famer Harry Wright played his first game of the 1871 season on May 5, 1871, he became the oldest person to ever play major league baseball. That’s not to say that nobody ever took the field who was older than Wright’s thirty-six. Rather, no player who was born earlier than Wright has ever played in the majors. Even with expansion, it’s unlikely that Wright’s record will be broken. As far as I know, there isn’t a person alive who was born earlier than January 10, 1835.

Pitcher Fred Chapman was the youngest player to make his debut (14 years 7 months 29 days). But the youngest person to ever play baseball keeps changing. At the end of the 1998 season, that distinction belongs to Pirates thirdbaseman Aramis Ramirez. Born June 25, 1978, he’s more than a year younger than Kerry Wood and almost a month younger than Mike Caruso. No doubt, someone younger than Ramirez will make their major league debut sometime next year.

One of the reasons this list is interesting is it helps to answer a question I’m frequently asked — “who was the first person to reach the majors who was younger than me?” If you were born on June 1, 1969, the answer is Ken Griffey. Here’s the list of players who have held the title “Baseball’s Youngest Player.”